It's good and all, but the plot to that game completely falls apart about half way through. I can't see an english major loving it, though you could always tell her to play and stop after the fairground.
It's good and all, but the plot to that game completely falls apart about half way through. I can't see an english major loving it, though you could always tell her to play and stop after the fairground.
I don't know. My girlfriend has an honours english degree and she really liked it and thought the action scenes were great and really fun. We both agreed that the game fell apart once you hit the army base though. But we did really enjoy the weird/Matrix type stuff.
Diablo games don't have too much of a story though. Nor does the character has much impact on the story at all (no choices). I'm not sure a hack 'n slash is the best way to go. For someone that commented they wanted a game with not just shooting people, I'm not sure a game where you replace shooting people with stabbing people (or setting them on fire, or shooting arrows in them) and a different camera angle is the right way to go (I know, I'm generalizing here). But who knows, maybe she loves the idea.
I would have recommended Septerra Core, for example, but I'm worried it might be too combat heavy (also, like all jrpgs, doesn't have much character building).
Kotor: Been mentioned a million times, because its a great game with moral descisions that.. sorta affect your game. Well, the effect it enough.
Fable: A bit "looser" than Kotor, and its morale importance is a bit less, but more free roving and will allow her to not play a Star Wars game.
Fallout: Cause its fucking awesome. Great story, nice moral choices that have a sort of impact (I still remember getting my childkiller tag thingee... which I dont think actually did anything) and its turnbased naturaly so she can take her time and get used to the game.
If you feel like buying her a GBA (which is what? 50 bucks now?) you can get her Golden Sun. As RPGs go, it's one of my absolute favorites and it's surprisingly deep, even though it's pretty linear. And of course, it can be easy or hard, depending on how much you level your characters before each boss fight. The GBA has tons of other great RPGs too, including most of the early Final Fantasy games. I liked the FF2 (or 4, the one with Cecil.) Other than that, I can't really say much that hasn't already been said, KotOR, Torment, *shudder* Fable, etc. etc.
Also, I feel obliged to recommend Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, not because it's an RPG, but because it is an excellent example of how great games can be, plus everyone and their brother had an N64.
Honestly, it sounds like she may be more interested in adventure games than RPGs, as they are basically RPGs minus combat and number crunching. They also have the added bonus of running on almost anything. Also, the interface will be similar to the Sims (point and click) which you say she played and I assume liked. So it'd be like The Sims + Structured Narrative.
As far as suggestions, Gabriel Knights, 7th Guest, etc.
I don't understand why you've ruled out Planescape and worry about Baldur's Gate? It seems to me that BG2 is exactly the low-spec PC RPG for an English major.
Honestly, it sounds like she may be more interested in adventure games than RPGs, as they are basically RPGs minus combat and number crunching. They also have the added bonus of running on almost anything. Also, the interface will be similar to the Sims (point and click) which you say she played and I assume liked. So it'd be like The Sims + Structured Narrative.
As far as suggestions, Gabriel Knights, 7th Guest, etc.
I'd totally agree with that progression in the games from sims to adventure. The Longest Journey though seems to be a better choice. The story is great, the voice acting is wonderful. It's pretty, it's interesting and you do get to make choices. I'd honestly just give it the 1 hour test. Worst comes to the worst you've lost 1 hour of time, and $10 on steam.
Very few RPGs actually have any real choice coupled with good stories, and gameplay wise most of them are 95% combat and travelling to 5% conversations and choices.
KotOR runs on my home laptop just fine. It ran on our old laptop, too.
Check the specs for Jade Empire PC. While the RPG elements and the combat aren't as strong as a lot of hardcore gamers wanted, they are very new-gamer-friendly. Jade Empire was, if I remember right, the first RPG my wife played, and it was a lot easier for her to learn "Dodge, jump, whack" then it was for her to learn "Click, select power attack, select critical strike, use medkit" for KotOR.
(Not just trying to push BioWare games. I'm trying to think of other games in which:
- Your choices matter on some level, so you get people reacting or multiple outcomes to some quests
- The story has a low entry barrier so that new gamers know what is going on
- The graphics are recent enough so that new gamers like looking at it
- The RPG elements are light and friendly enough so that new gamers aren't overwhelmed
The last three were what worked for my wife. I ended up grabbing Rogue Galaxy for her on the PS2 -- she didn't care about story choice, so the linearity didn't bother her, and it's a very pretty game. Sadly, I haven't found a PC version.)
What television shows does she like? While the CSI games aren't winning game-of-the-year awards, she might like the investigative aspects -- more adventure than RPG, but she still gets to feel like her choices advance the plot.
I wouldn't introduce her to BG2 until she'd gotten some newer games under her belt. I loved BG2, but I came to it knowing the math and how to equip items and slot spells, and it was still a tough game. That might be a bit too tough for a new player who is looking for something more casual. (Not slamming your girlfriend -- I'm basing this on what worked for my wife when I tried to introduce her to games.)
a game where you have to make decisions about what you want to do, and you have an impact on the story
Honestly, it sounds like she may be more interested in adventure games than RPGs
You have absolutely no influence on the story in most adventure games so no, it doesn't seem like she might be MORE interested in adv. games than RPGs at all.
I'm with Misanthropic on this one, I think she'd probably enjoy a good adventure more than almost any RPG.
As long as she FEELS like she's influencing the story, that's going to be the important thing. Plus adventures do away with a lot of that stat heavy malarky that newcomers can find so intimidating/boring.
Personally though I'd force her to play through FF7 and be ready with the hankies and hugs come the time of the tragic loss of ...well you know the rest.*
*DISCLAIMER:
My advice concerning women is about as reliable as are rumours of Aeris' revival being possible with the Holy Materia.
You can make important choices in the final fantasy games? That's news to me.
You never played that Final Fantasy where you can say, "What? A dark and evil empire is threatening the land? Screw it. I'm going fishing."
And those games tend to have weaker stories or be far more complicated.
ScrabbleDude on
0
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited November 2007
I would actually say something like Puzzle Quest before something like Baldur's Gate.
BG is a great game, but holy crap do they throw you in the deep end. Books worth of reading to be done, an interface that can be pretty painful to navigate nowadays, and a combat system that's incredibly complex.
For a good mix, maybe something like FF7 for PC, if you can get it running. It's pretty much just a linear story, the combat system is easy to master, and things switch up a little with the minigames and different environments. It's not the world's deepest gameplay, but it's incredibly accessible, which I think is the most important part of getting her into RPGs.
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited November 2007
Oh, or Anachronox. It's pretty much an FF game, but built for PC, with an excellent story, characters, and voice acting. It was also buggy as all hell, but if you get it patched it's a great way to ease people into RPGs.
Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing - These are really hit & miss, but you mentioned the Sims and these are just the goofy version of it with a lot of tedium added. The fiance's favorite part of Harvest Moon is that you get to pick any of the womenfolk around town to woo. :winky:
Twilight Princess has a good amount of thinking, fun combat, a pretty world, and a nice boy-saves-girl story.
Super Paper Mario - See above. Plus a lot of hilarity.
Diablo 2 would be great if she got into it, since it has the added bonus co-op.
Edit: FF7 for PC would be great, if she can stand how hideous the characters are looking these days. >.<
KOTOR suggested again.
I was an English major, too. So...my opinion should rank somewhat higher.
But it is an accessible RPG-ish game and combat can be simple. I don't remember it getting too melodramatic but I remember it being hilariously funny at times. Avoiding melodrama and being funny are two important qualities to non-gamers, I think.
From the description she gave you, it sounds like she would like a graphic adventure game like Sam & Max or Phoenix Wright more than an actual RPG. All story & puzzles, no combat or stat monitoring. True, in most adventure games, you can't really change the story's progression, but then again, that's true for the vast majority of RPGs as well.
I don't know if anyone suggested this but buy a PS2 (if you don't already have it) and go with Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy X-2.
the games are easy, somewhat linear (which would be good for her first RPG) and has enough story elements that will hook her. Then move her on to the older FF RPGs, Lunar and Xenogears/Xenosaga.
Guys, the only classic console RPG I'd be comfortable with recommending is Chrono Trigger. I cannot get through any of the older story-orietned FF's (6,7) because inventory management and combat is such a huge fucking slog. It's like oh my god Sephiroth killed your family, now hunt him down! And then you spend the next three hours in random encounters. FF6 is worse because there's so much shit to manage I can barely keep track of who has what and how I should be constructing my party, and it pads its gameplay out with an absurd amount of random encounters.
The only two RPG's I could ever get my sister to even play for ten minutes were CT and KOTOR. I love BG2, but it's so dense I can rarely get up the gumption to play it, and I definitely wouldn't hand it to a newcomer. And system reqs are an issue with KOTOR.
LoneIgadzra on
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IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited November 2007
This is all really subjective and it would help to know what this woman is motivated by.
Console or Japanese-styled RPGs are not recommended if she truly wants to affect the relationships between characters or tangibly change the world; they are absolutely terrible at this while their strength tends to lie among the gameplay, driving force of the narrative, and/or eye-candy. At the extremes the amount of control the player has over the story/characters is equal to either turning to the next page of the book or shutting it.
There are some console/Japanese games which focus more on role-playing. Games like these tend not to make it across the ocean as often. Harvest Moon is known for having a good following among females, but I don't know of any others where you aren't forced into a rather male-oriented role.
PC or Western/European RPGs tend to touch in varying degrees on narrative, but it's usually mallable. They often provide a game world + story "framework" in which you can define your role and play it. These games tend to offer up an experience more like tabletop gaming sessions, with the computer as your DM, and the best ones don't expose the player to the underlying mechanical aspects unless you go hunting for them.
Hello there, graduated english major here wanting to weigh in.
I think the Adventure route is really the way to go here to get her started. I think that everyone here is thinking about gameplay actions affecting the world from the perspective of a seasoned gamer. You have to realize that, in books, you're stuck on a linear path, just reading about what happens.
My guess is that that all she has in mind really is performing the actions herself. She probably won't even notice a lack of branching storylines and whatnot. She's just interested in playing a part in the story. I'm not saying that she wouldn't appreciate having her actions change the story, but I think that non-linearity may be a touch overemphasized in these discussions.
RPGS are really a complicated form of gaming, and I think throwing her off the deep end is going to turn her off gaming forever. People who suggested Morrowind and Oblivion should be shot.
I say Indigo Prophecy would probably be the best game to go with here, as her actions will actually have a good impact on the game world, but the obvious negative is that the story goes down hill a bit.
If your girlfriend is a fan of the "mindfuck" style-movies like Memento and Fight Club I would also like to recommend a slightly older adventure game, Sanitarium. It's quite linear, but the writing and puzzles are fantastic. It gets bizarre, but it all fits within the framework of the story, so I think it might be a good choice. Plus, it came out in 98 I think, so it should run on anything.
Other suggestions include the Broken Sword games, or maybe a Lucasarts point-and-click.
Any of these would provide a good segueway into games like KOTOR or Fable, but I certainly wouldn't start her off with an RPG. Games like the Final Fantasies are going to be too long and she'll likely lose interest.
Start her slow, and see what she's actually looking for. My bet is that she's just looking to be an active participant, rather than completely change the world.
I would also recommend Final Fantasy X, with the Prima guide. That was the first game that my, now wife, really got into (besides Mario and Sonic).
She is also really into Guitar Hero (better than me), WoW and Puzzle Quest.
I think getting the Prima guide really helped with the process though, whatever game you choose, including a strat guide might be a big help. Then it is even more like a story, by eliminating a good deal of the "wtf now what?" frustrations that many new gamers feel.
hot gamer chicks.
Namel3ss on
May the wombat of happiness snuffle through your underbrush.
Subscribe to GameTap for a couple months and let her explore all the different stuff they have on there. There's plenty to choose from in the RPG and adventure categories, old and new.
HarshLanguage on
> turn on light Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
World of Warcraft. Seriously. Girls eat that shit up once they get settled in.
Plus when she joins a guild, she'll have guys complementing her 1000x a day and kissing her ass so you don't have to.
So she games and gets a self-esteem boost. Win-win!
Then work her into the offline stuff after she gets hooked...
I wish guys did that to me. Instead I get told to make sandwiches. Alright, so that happens only rarely as well, but seriously, there's not a lot of complimenting going on in a game like WoW and people's attitudes towards female gamers on that game can vary wildly.
I think we're gonna need more info from the OP here as the suggestions are starting to vary wildly in style now and we really don't know what it is *exactly* that this girl wants. (I do agree however that my earlier suggestion of BG2 might not be right after all, Rolo said it, it does throw you off the deep end a bit).
Fantasyrogue on
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited November 2007
Quote somebody "My guess is that that all she has in mind really is performing the actions herself. She probably won't even notice a lack of branching storylines and whatnot. She's just interested in playing a part in the story. I'm not saying that she wouldn't appreciate having her actions change the story, but I think that non-linearity may be a touch overemphasized in these discussions."
I suggest reading material by women about what they want from games, why they play them, and what they find lacking. Here, try http://www.grrlgamer.com to start, though I've seen better. Sure, everyone's different, but the lack of true interactivity brushed off above is a pretty common complaint, rather high up there after unrealistic depictions of females in games and being treated moronically by maladjusted male gamers.
If you're male, you must stop yourself and remember that women think differently. Their minds have different priorities and different ways of definining the world and their relationships with it.
Now the OP clearly stated his girlfriend only got into gaming due to The Sims and what she what she would like to play. It's not exactly going out on a limb here to suggest that the being able to make decisions that tangibly affect the world are probably important to her, and this typically clashes very hard with the book-like, underailably detatched narrative of most J-RPGS.
I suggest to the OP that you take some more time and talk with your girlfriend to figure out what she really wants, maybe ask if she'd agree to try a few very different examples of RPG for a few hours, just to see where her tastes lie and whether she's open to a broader variety of role-playing experiences.
Quote somebody "My guess is that that all she has in mind really is performing the actions herself. She probably won't even notice a lack of branching storylines and whatnot. She's just interested in playing a part in the story. I'm not saying that she wouldn't appreciate having her actions change the story, but I think that non-linearity may be a touch overemphasized in these discussions."
I suggest reading material by women about what they want from games, why they play them, and what they find lacking. Here, try http://www.grrlgamer.com to start, though I've seen better. Sure, everyone's different, but the lack of true interactivity brushed off above is a pretty common complaint, rather high up there after unrealistic depictions of females in games and being treated moronically by maladjusted male gamers.
If you're male, you must stop yourself and remember that women think differently. Their minds have different priorities and different ways of definining the world and their relationships with it.
Now the OP clearly stated his girlfriend only got into gaming due to The Sims and what she what she would like to play. It's not exactly going out on a limb here to suggest that the being able to make decisions that tangibly affect the world are probably important to her, and this typically clashes very hard with a linear narrative.
I suggest to the OP that you take some more time and talk with your girlfriend to figure out what she really wants, maybe ask if she'd agree to try a few very different examples of RPG for a few hours, just to see where her tastes lie and whether she is willing to broaden her horizons.
It was me that you quoted. I agree with what you wrote, and I definitely think that women want different things out of games than guys. Women seem to prioritize communication in games. I read once that the Oddworld games are hugely popular among women because of the communication and puzzle solving in that game.
My point was more that I think that we're looking at this from a gamer's point of view when we should be looking at it from a reader's point of view. When you have any option at all to affect the way a story plays out, even through something as simple as a sidequest or finding some secret item, then that's a major difference from a book where there's only one way that things happen, and you don't control them.
Another thing to think about is that women, in my experience, tend to gravitate towards games about real, modern-day people that they can relate to. Since The Sims was her first game, I'd suggest sticking towards a real-world approach.
My primary choice would still be an Adventure game, preferably Indigo Prophecy. It's (admittedly a kinda weird) real-world, focused on communication, you have an interactive story, and you'd avoid a lot of the ridiculousness that comes with RPGS. The only downer is that the story takes a turn for the worse, but it's still the best choice for a first game, imo.
Posts
It's good and all, but the plot to that game completely falls apart about half way through. I can't see an english major loving it, though you could always tell her to play and stop after the fairground.
Like ever.
Just throwing it out there, it has pretty terrible optimization and it rapes laptop GPUs.
Seconded. Half of D2 is about shopping. Think of Mephisto as the mall.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
I would have recommended Septerra Core, for example, but I'm worried it might be too combat heavy (also, like all jrpgs, doesn't have much character building).
Fable: A bit "looser" than Kotor, and its morale importance is a bit less, but more free roving and will allow her to not play a Star Wars game.
Fallout: Cause its fucking awesome. Great story, nice moral choices that have a sort of impact (I still remember getting my childkiller tag thingee... which I dont think actually did anything) and its turnbased naturaly so she can take her time and get used to the game.
Also, I feel obliged to recommend Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, not because it's an RPG, but because it is an excellent example of how great games can be, plus everyone and their brother had an N64.
PIX OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
Honestly, it sounds like she may be more interested in adventure games than RPGs, as they are basically RPGs minus combat and number crunching. They also have the added bonus of running on almost anything. Also, the interface will be similar to the Sims (point and click) which you say she played and I assume liked. So it'd be like The Sims + Structured Narrative.
As far as suggestions, Gabriel Knights, 7th Guest, etc.
I don't understand why you've ruled out Planescape and worry about Baldur's Gate? It seems to me that BG2 is exactly the low-spec PC RPG for an English major.
I'd totally agree with that progression in the games from sims to adventure. The Longest Journey though seems to be a better choice. The story is great, the voice acting is wonderful. It's pretty, it's interesting and you do get to make choices. I'd honestly just give it the 1 hour test. Worst comes to the worst you've lost 1 hour of time, and $10 on steam.
Very few RPGs actually have any real choice coupled with good stories, and gameplay wise most of them are 95% combat and travelling to 5% conversations and choices.
Check the specs for Jade Empire PC. While the RPG elements and the combat aren't as strong as a lot of hardcore gamers wanted, they are very new-gamer-friendly. Jade Empire was, if I remember right, the first RPG my wife played, and it was a lot easier for her to learn "Dodge, jump, whack" then it was for her to learn "Click, select power attack, select critical strike, use medkit" for KotOR.
(Not just trying to push BioWare games. I'm trying to think of other games in which:
- Your choices matter on some level, so you get people reacting or multiple outcomes to some quests
- The story has a low entry barrier so that new gamers know what is going on
- The graphics are recent enough so that new gamers like looking at it
- The RPG elements are light and friendly enough so that new gamers aren't overwhelmed
The last three were what worked for my wife. I ended up grabbing Rogue Galaxy for her on the PS2 -- she didn't care about story choice, so the linearity didn't bother her, and it's a very pretty game. Sadly, I haven't found a PC version.)
What television shows does she like? While the CSI games aren't winning game-of-the-year awards, she might like the investigative aspects -- more adventure than RPG, but she still gets to feel like her choices advance the plot.
I wouldn't introduce her to BG2 until she'd gotten some newer games under her belt. I loved BG2, but I came to it knowing the math and how to equip items and slot spells, and it was still a tough game. That might be a bit too tough for a new player who is looking for something more casual. (Not slamming your girlfriend -- I'm basing this on what worked for my wife when I tried to introduce her to games.)
You have absolutely no influence on the story in most adventure games so no, it doesn't seem like she might be MORE interested in adv. games than RPGs at all.
As long as she FEELS like she's influencing the story, that's going to be the important thing. Plus adventures do away with a lot of that stat heavy malarky that newcomers can find so intimidating/boring.
Personally though I'd force her to play through FF7 and be ready with the hankies and hugs come the time of the tragic loss of ...well you know the rest.*
*DISCLAIMER:
You never played that Final Fantasy where you can say, "What? A dark and evil empire is threatening the land? Screw it. I'm going fishing."
BG is a great game, but holy crap do they throw you in the deep end. Books worth of reading to be done, an interface that can be pretty painful to navigate nowadays, and a combat system that's incredibly complex.
For a good mix, maybe something like FF7 for PC, if you can get it running. It's pretty much just a linear story, the combat system is easy to master, and things switch up a little with the minigames and different environments. It's not the world's deepest gameplay, but it's incredibly accessible, which I think is the most important part of getting her into RPGs.
Final Fantasy X is fantastic. Good characters, touching story, and a very bright, non-dreary world.
Kingdom Hearts 1&2 - Disney + Sexy anime mans, 'nuff said.
Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing - These are really hit & miss, but you mentioned the Sims and these are just the goofy version of it with a lot of tedium added. The fiance's favorite part of Harvest Moon is that you get to pick any of the womenfolk around town to woo. :winky:
Twilight Princess has a good amount of thinking, fun combat, a pretty world, and a nice boy-saves-girl story.
Super Paper Mario - See above. Plus a lot of hilarity.
Diablo 2 would be great if she got into it, since it has the added bonus co-op.
Edit: FF7 for PC would be great, if she can stand how hideous the characters are looking these days. >.<
I was an English major, too. So...my opinion should rank somewhat higher.
But it is an accessible RPG-ish game and combat can be simple. I don't remember it getting too melodramatic but I remember it being hilariously funny at times. Avoiding melodrama and being funny are two important qualities to non-gamers, I think.
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the games are easy, somewhat linear (which would be good for her first RPG) and has enough story elements that will hook her. Then move her on to the older FF RPGs, Lunar and Xenogears/Xenosaga.
The only two RPG's I could ever get my sister to even play for ten minutes were CT and KOTOR. I love BG2, but it's so dense I can rarely get up the gumption to play it, and I definitely wouldn't hand it to a newcomer. And system reqs are an issue with KOTOR.
Console or Japanese-styled RPGs are not recommended if she truly wants to affect the relationships between characters or tangibly change the world; they are absolutely terrible at this while their strength tends to lie among the gameplay, driving force of the narrative, and/or eye-candy. At the extremes the amount of control the player has over the story/characters is equal to either turning to the next page of the book or shutting it.
There are some console/Japanese games which focus more on role-playing. Games like these tend not to make it across the ocean as often. Harvest Moon is known for having a good following among females, but I don't know of any others where you aren't forced into a rather male-oriented role.
PC or Western/European RPGs tend to touch in varying degrees on narrative, but it's usually mallable. They often provide a game world + story "framework" in which you can define your role and play it. These games tend to offer up an experience more like tabletop gaming sessions, with the computer as your DM, and the best ones don't expose the player to the underlying mechanical aspects unless you go hunting for them.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
I think the Adventure route is really the way to go here to get her started. I think that everyone here is thinking about gameplay actions affecting the world from the perspective of a seasoned gamer. You have to realize that, in books, you're stuck on a linear path, just reading about what happens.
My guess is that that all she has in mind really is performing the actions herself. She probably won't even notice a lack of branching storylines and whatnot. She's just interested in playing a part in the story. I'm not saying that she wouldn't appreciate having her actions change the story, but I think that non-linearity may be a touch overemphasized in these discussions.
RPGS are really a complicated form of gaming, and I think throwing her off the deep end is going to turn her off gaming forever. People who suggested Morrowind and Oblivion should be shot.
I say Indigo Prophecy would probably be the best game to go with here, as her actions will actually have a good impact on the game world, but the obvious negative is that the story goes down hill a bit.
If your girlfriend is a fan of the "mindfuck" style-movies like Memento and Fight Club I would also like to recommend a slightly older adventure game, Sanitarium. It's quite linear, but the writing and puzzles are fantastic. It gets bizarre, but it all fits within the framework of the story, so I think it might be a good choice. Plus, it came out in 98 I think, so it should run on anything.
Other suggestions include the Broken Sword games, or maybe a Lucasarts point-and-click.
Any of these would provide a good segueway into games like KOTOR or Fable, but I certainly wouldn't start her off with an RPG. Games like the Final Fantasies are going to be too long and she'll likely lose interest.
Start her slow, and see what she's actually looking for. My bet is that she's just looking to be an active participant, rather than completely change the world.
She is also really into Guitar Hero (better than me), WoW and Puzzle Quest.
I think getting the Prima guide really helped with the process though, whatever game you choose, including a strat guide might be a big help. Then it is even more like a story, by eliminating a good deal of the "wtf now what?" frustrations that many new gamers feel.
Plus when she joins a guild, she'll have guys complementing her 1000x a day and kissing her ass so you don't have to.
So she games and gets a self-esteem boost. Win-win!
Then work her into the offline stuff after she gets hooked...
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
This is pretty truthful. Just keep an eye out so she doesn't end up running away with her GM.
I wish guys did that to me. Instead I get told to make sandwiches. Alright, so that happens only rarely as well, but seriously, there's not a lot of complimenting going on in a game like WoW and people's attitudes towards female gamers on that game can vary wildly.
I think we're gonna need more info from the OP here as the suggestions are starting to vary wildly in style now and we really don't know what it is *exactly* that this girl wants. (I do agree however that my earlier suggestion of BG2 might not be right after all, Rolo said it, it does throw you off the deep end a bit).
I suggest reading material by women about what they want from games, why they play them, and what they find lacking. Here, try http://www.grrlgamer.com to start, though I've seen better. Sure, everyone's different, but the lack of true interactivity brushed off above is a pretty common complaint, rather high up there after unrealistic depictions of females in games and being treated moronically by maladjusted male gamers.
If you're male, you must stop yourself and remember that women think differently. Their minds have different priorities and different ways of definining the world and their relationships with it.
Now the OP clearly stated his girlfriend only got into gaming due to The Sims and what she what she would like to play. It's not exactly going out on a limb here to suggest that the being able to make decisions that tangibly affect the world are probably important to her, and this typically clashes very hard with the book-like, underailably detatched narrative of most J-RPGS.
I suggest to the OP that you take some more time and talk with your girlfriend to figure out what she really wants, maybe ask if she'd agree to try a few very different examples of RPG for a few hours, just to see where her tastes lie and whether she's open to a broader variety of role-playing experiences.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
you have an oldish laptop
the answer is obviously fucking baldurs gate 2.
if you are worried about the game being focussed more on story than character dont worry. its focussed on both.
it will run on that system
plus, it has minsc.
Satans..... hints.....
It was me that you quoted. I agree with what you wrote, and I definitely think that women want different things out of games than guys. Women seem to prioritize communication in games. I read once that the Oddworld games are hugely popular among women because of the communication and puzzle solving in that game.
My point was more that I think that we're looking at this from a gamer's point of view when we should be looking at it from a reader's point of view. When you have any option at all to affect the way a story plays out, even through something as simple as a sidequest or finding some secret item, then that's a major difference from a book where there's only one way that things happen, and you don't control them.
Another thing to think about is that women, in my experience, tend to gravitate towards games about real, modern-day people that they can relate to. Since The Sims was her first game, I'd suggest sticking towards a real-world approach.
My primary choice would still be an Adventure game, preferably Indigo Prophecy. It's (admittedly a kinda weird) real-world, focused on communication, you have an interactive story, and you'd avoid a lot of the ridiculousness that comes with RPGS. The only downer is that the story takes a turn for the worse, but it's still the best choice for a first game, imo.